Part 6 – Social work knowledge about irresolvable grief of adoption loss

Evidence of Systemic Violation of Single Parents Rights – Part 6

Irresolvable grief: What the professionals knew but didn’t tell single parents (“unwed” mothers) and grandparents-to-be

“A grief reaction unique to the relinquishing mother was identified. Although this reaction consists of features characteristic of the normal grief reaction, these features persist and often lead to chronic, unresolved grief. CONCLUSIONS: The relinquishing mother is at risk for long-term physical, psychologic, and social repercussions. Although interventions have been proposed, little is known about their effectiveness in preventing or alleviating these repercussions.” Journal of Obstetric, Gynecological and Neonatal Nursing, 1999 Jul-Aug; 28(4):395-400 “Postadoptive Reactions of the Relinquishing Mother: a Review”

“In sum, society sees to it that by action or by implication, a woman who is having a child out of wedlock will come away from the experience with an inferior sense of herself as a mother, whether she keeps her baby or relinquishes him for adoption. This downgrading of the maternal image, can do serious injury to the later maternal functioning of the woman whose perception of herself as a mother is thus impaired.” HELPING UNMARRIED MOTHERS, Rose Bernstein, 1971, [Permission given this author by the Child Welfare League of America and the National Association of Social Workers to use portions that originally appeared in "Child Welfare and Social Work".]

“The decisions unmarried mothers have to make are among the difficult ones. These decisions have to be made under conditions of restricted maneuverability and abnormal pressures – pressures of time and emotion that do not allow for testing, exploring, and other procedures that are ordinarily considered essential to sound decision-making.” HELPING UNMARRIED MOTHERS, Rose Bernstein, 1971, [Permission given this author by the Child Welfare League of America and the National Association of Social Workers to use portions that originally appeared in "Child Welfare and Social Work".]